"now they get to worry about some tech tycoon outbidding them for their parking spot. "ROLF - THEIR parking spot? LOLOLOLHOW about ... paying for parking?CLEARLY, the city needs to get in on this.Make each spot bit enabled!Highest bidder gets the parking spot.The city should be able to collect what the spot is actually worth!!!HAHAHA HAHAH sigh

CSBONE of the awesome things about the absurd new parking boxes in chicago, is that you can always find street parking now!! The cheap bastards have to park elsewhere now instead of stealing parking spots on the street, which are better served by people patronizing nearby businesses!!/CSB

Driver : I am about to leave the number 2 spot in front of the doors at Best Buy. Who wants it?Guy 1: Uh, I'll give you 50 cents.Guy 2: 5 bucks!Guy 3: 25 bucks!Guy 4: I won't spend 5 minutes beating your car with a claw hammer.Driver: uh....sold to Guy 4!

And what happens if you pay for someone's spot, and then some asshole ganks 'your' spot because you're blocked by the guy pulling out? Do you politely explain how you just paid for that public spot and therefore it is now 'yours' and that he should move, and hope the day ends without your smart phone being surgically removed from your anus? Do you call the cops and report that you were 'robbed'? Do you engage in some Casey Jones style street justice that ends with you being indicted for manslaughter for standing up for your 'rights'?

Making money is only for the rich. The little guy has no right to try and make money! That's what this all comes down too. Some guy found a way to make a bit of money and the wealthy "job creators" don't like it

Warlordtrooper:Making money is only for the rich. The little guy has no right to try and make money! That's what this all comes down too. Some guy found a way to make a bit of money and the wealthy "job creators" don't like it

no it is actually just the opposite. This is not some case of the bum pointing out obvious parking spots and supplying "security" for a buck situation.

I helped run a Burning man offshoot that had a ticket cap due to space limitations and typically sold out all 1500 tickets in matter of minute after they went on sale. Of course this caused much upset and consternation among the ticketless. We raised ticket prices $15 to $50 to create a reserve fund to buy land to expand the event at some point but int he meantime the tickets kept selling out faster and faster.

our smart economist friend pointed out that the most beneficial solution to the Org to deal with t\he shortage would be to auction the tickets off pair by pair. Those most motivated to go would pay a premium to guarantee their attendance, and then ticket prices would fall until they "found their level" based on the current demand.

and technically he was absolutely correct. It would have maximized "profit" for the 501(c)(3) which would have brought us closer to buying land quicker which in the end benefits everyone. However Morally/ethically/optically it was an AWFUL solution as it would destroy the core values of radical inclusion and non-commerce the event was founded on, favoring rich burners over poor ones.

AlgaeRancher: oh sure its all fun and games, until the city council decides to do this for every public parking spot in the city.

There is a movement to implement market rate street parking nationwide. The federal DOT is paying for demonstration projects. Donald Shoup at UCLA is the guy credited with the concept (but not necessarily the implementation).

Warlordtrooper:No they aren't they are simply selling information about when they are leaving a parking spot. They are not selling access to the land, rather knowledge of they are done parking their car.

No, they're soliciting payment to move their car at a certain time. It's not "pay $10.00 to find out I'm leaving at 4:30" it's "pay $10.00 to get me to leave now".

All2morrowsparTs:jigger: All2morrowsparTs: jigger: cgraves67: You're not paying them for the spot. You're paying for them to get out of it.

Exactly. And that's why the law doesn't apply and the C&D letter is without merit.

The law is about profiting off public land.

No one is buying selling or leasing property except for the city. The app users are coordinating their parking together. The time at which you leave a parking space is not public property.

You are still profiting from the use of a public space, not to mention the unintended consequences of dissuading the efficient use of that public land since this will exacerbate spot squatting.

The company itself, as a promotion, actually paid people to squat on spaces in the Mission one weekend.

So what? The people squatting in the spots were completely legally entitled to do so as long as they pay the meter and leave within the time limit.

In the case that someone is about to leave a spot, they use this app, and someone pays to park right after them, and then someone else slips into the spot before them, it's not like they would have a case against the more agile parker. They paid to know exactly when the first parker would leave the spot, expecting that the first parker would not leave until they got there. If that person got tired of waiting and left a little too soon and the paying guy didn't get his spot, then all they can do is take it up with the app company, who is in no way legally obligated to them.

HotWingConspiracy:jigger: HotWingConspiracy: jigger: All2morrowsparTs: jigger: cgraves67: You're not paying them for the spot. You're paying for them to get out of it.

Exactly. And that's why the law doesn't apply and the C&D letter is without merit.

The law is about profiting off public land.

No one is buying selling or leasing property except for the city. The app users are coordinating their parking together. The time at which you leave a parking space is not public property.

They're attempting to sell access to public land. This is not a clever defense.

Ridiculous. They are selling information, not the land.

Can you get on to the land without paying them? They're selling access to something they don't own.

Yes, you can get onto the land without paying them. They can't park there forever. There are time limits on these spots. Anyone parking there has paid to be parked there. As long as they are within the time limit, they have the right to park there and leave whenever it benefits them to do so.